A paint brush is a conventional type paint applicator. A paint brush has limited paint carrying capacity. A paint brush can be inconvenient to clean and is often thrown away before the end of its serviceable life even though replacing a paint brush can be costly.
Another conventional type of paint applicator is a paint pad. A paint pad can be relatively inexpensive so that it may be thrown away to save cleaning time even though it can be easier to clean than a paint brush. A paint pad has limited paint carrying capacity.
US patent publication No. 2012/0134737 discloses a hand-holdable painting apparatus. It is used to apply paint to a work surface instead of a paint brush or a paint pad. The hand-holdable painting apparatus is particularly useful for performing a trimming function i.e. applying paint to a work surface in close proximity to another surface, which is either not to be painted or to be painted a different color.
The hand-holdable painting apparatus of US2012/0134737 has a removable paint reservoir which may be refilled or renewed. It also has a removable paint applicator which may be cleaned or renewed, but only once the paint reservoir has been removed so as to limit contact of paint with non-removable parts of the apparatus. A vibration mechanism may alleviate friction between the paint applicator and a work surface and a paint delivery mechanism helps provide smooth discharge of paint from the paint reservoir to the paint applicator. These advantages result from a relatively sophisticated apparatus the function of which may be maintained by avoidance of accumulation of dry paint on and around non-removable parts.